February 16, 2025 Ukraine and the World – Against russia’s Aggression. Sanctions in Action

Last year, thanks to the joint efforts of Ukraine and its partners, more than 1.5 million drones of various types were produced.

Leader of Germany’s CDU Friedrich Merz has once again emphasized his readiness together with partners to increase the supply of European weapons to Ukraine, Taurus missiles included “We must be ready to supply (Taurus), but only if we agree with our European partners, and here I am talking about the United Kingdom and France (which also have long-range missiles) on the division of roles,”stressed the politician.

“The Ukrainian Defense Industry and Thales International SAS, a French company specializing in the development of information systems for the aerospace and military sectors, have signed an agreement to establish a joint enterprise

“Peace comes through strength, and we are ready to continue strengthening Ukraine's defence. The only acceptable peace is a sustainable peace that will not allow the aggressor to further threaten Europe and the entire democratic world,” – President of Lithuania Gitanas Nausėda assured Ukraine of ”ironclad support.”

“We all want a peace agreement that is as just for Ukraine as possible and measures ensuring that, at least in the foreseeable future, until it becomes a member of NATO and the EU, it can repel any attack. At the same time, we must lay all necessary foundations for Ukraine’s accession to both institutions,” said President of the Czech Republic Petr Pavel.

Prime Minister of Denmark Mette Frederiksen is convinced that Ukraine must win the war, and a peace agreement must ensure that russia does not return to Ukraine. “NATO membership is the best thing that can be given to Ukraine. If Ukraine had been a member of NATO, the war in Ukraine would never have started. This is the easiest way to help protect the country,” emphasized the Prime Minister of Denmark.

“... It will be the Ukrainians alone who can drive the discussions for a solid and lasting peace. We will help them in this endeavour,” said President of France Emmanuel Macron.

“We want peace through strength, not war through weakness. For a lasting peace in Ukraine, with robust security guarantees, and for the security of Europe as a whole, Ukraine must be able to negotiate from the strongest possible position,” said Prime Minister of the Netherlands Dick Schoof.

“There will be peace only when Ukraine's sovereignty is secured. Therefore, a peace dictated under pressure will never receive our support,” Chancellor of the FRG Olaf Scholz emphasized his position.

““No talk of Ukraine without Ukraine, no talk of Europe without Europe,” said Prime Minister of Sweden Ulf Kristersson.

“...We will not give up. We will continue to support Ukraine as an integral part of our peace project. Only Ukraine can decide when the conditions for negotiations are right. Assuming concessions before any negotiations is a huge mistake,” said President of the European Council António Costa.

President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen has pointed out that both the EU and the USA want to end the bloodshed in our country, and also want a just and lasting peace that will be a guarantee for a sovereign and successful Ukraine.

“We share the view that there has to be a lasting peace... ”, - said David Lammy, the Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom, about his talks with US Vice President J.D. Vance.

“We want the killing to stop, but we want to achieve a durable, lasting peace, not the kind of peace that’s going to have Eastern Europe in conflict just a couple of years down the road,” US Vice President J.D. Vance commented on a potential peace agreement.

“If putin invades again, Ukraine will immediately join NATO. And if you join NATO during a war, it means that we are all fighting (in defense of Ukraine),” US Senator Lindsey Graham suggested an alternative timeline for Ukraine's accession to the Alliance.

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Minister of Defence of the Netherlands Ruben Brekelmans believes that a potential “ceasefire” in Ukraine could lead to an increased russian threat to the Baltic states.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Norway Espen Barth Eide, after a russian drone strike on the sarcophagus of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, said that russia’s aggression poses a risk to nuclear safety.

Prime Minister of Poland Donald Tusk has announced the deportation of a russian citizen suspected of coordinating sabotage against Poland, the United States and other allies. The Polish Prime Minister has said that a russian suspected of “coordinating acts of sabotage against Poland, the United States, and other allies” was hiding in Bosnia and Herzegovina. He has now been deported to Poland and “arrested by court order.” Tusk thanked the Polish intelligence services and prosecutors, and added without going into detail that “russia’s hostile activity has been confirmed.”

The US Congress has demanded that the Syrian transitional administration deny russia access to its military facilities in the country. This is one of the criteria necessary for the American side to change its sanctions policy toward Damascus.

Authorities of Azerbaijan have decided to close a branch of the russian propaganda news agency “sputnik”. The number of editorial staff will be reduced from 40 to one. Its activities will be regulated in accordance with the legislation of the republic.

Indian buyers of russian oil have refused to work with tankers under sanctions, regardless the currency the transaction is in, even in Indian rupees.

Chinese oil refineries have sharply reduced purchases of russian oil due to the toughening of US sanctions. In February, sea oil supplies from russia to China dropped to 500 thousand barrels per day, compared to an average of 1.05 million over the previous three months. China is replacing russian barrels with supplies from Brazil and Angola: the former increased exports to the Chinese market from 0.91 to 1.05 million barrels per day, and the latter almost doubled, from 0.67 to 1.13 million barrels daily.

In 2025, the russian economy will slow down 2-4 times, while inflation will almost double the initial expectations. The bank of russia included these parameters in its updated macroeconomic forecast, which was published along with the key policy rate decision.

russian authorities are considering a complete ban on the export of petrol from the country after a record number of strikes on oil refineries since the beginning of the war, which shut down about 10% of the country's refining capacity.

The gold shortage has affected russia, which is recording a reduction in reserves at both the state and commercial levels. In 2024, the volume of reserves decreased by 46.4 %, which is equivalent to more than 33 metric tons. The central bank of russia confirmed that in monetary terms the decline was 23.6 % compared to the previous year, while the physical volume of reserves almost halved. The decline was the largest since the 2020 pandemic. Currently, russian commercial banks hold 38.1 tons of gold. The market value of these reserves is estimated at $3.4 billion, which is equivalent to 325.4 billion rubles. Thus, the current level of gold reserves in the country is the lowest since July 2022.

Anthracite production in novosibirsk region decreased by 17%. In 2024, mineral production in the region decreased by 15.5 % compared to the previous year. According to the ministry of industry, the main reasons for the decline in anthracite production was the reduction in sales volumes due to the “lack of shipments” of novosibirsk anthracite “in the profitable eastern direction” since the fourth quarter of 2022, restrictions on the part of russian railways and the export of coal to the west. The ministry of industry also pointed out a decline in sales profitability due to an increase in logistics costs in the final cost of coal products from 47% to 89 %. At the same time, head of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) aysen Nikolayev has said that “russia’s coal mining enterprises are in a difficult situation... and therefore are in dire need of support from the state.” At the end of 2023, the coal mining industry employed 142 thousand workers.

russia has opened the first criminal case under the article on “military fakes” for criticizing the war in Georgia in 2008.

rosfinmonitoring has included Kirill Blokhin in the list of extremists and terrorists. He was born in December 2010. Blokhin is 11 days younger than the previous “record holder”, Nikolai Gorin, who was detained in January in a case of preparation for a terrorist attack in Ulyanovsk.

An employee of the administration of Nikolaevsk on the Amur was found dead in the Khabarovsk Teritory. He fell from the ninth floor. Earlier, the official had spoken negatively about russian military servicemen which led to a criminal case against him.

Governor of Sakhalin limarenko has said that he personally discourages women from having abortions.

In the rb, 37 foreigners convicted for political reasons are behind the bars. They are citizens of Ukraine, russia, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Sweden, Armenia and Japan.

Since the beginning of the year, several dozens of belarusians have been detained after returning to the country. Several people can be taken off a bus from Lithuania or Poland at once. The reason may be “extremist” reposts and subscriptions on social media, photos from protests in cloud storage, donations, and Google search history. Also, people who have previously been detained at protests and included in the “unrest” database and those who have not lived in the rb for a long time are subject to additional checks at the border.

maz has faced a significant drop in sales of its equipment on the russian market. January saw the decrease in both the number of buses and trucks sold in the rf. As for new trucks, including specialized trucks, in January, maz sold 274 units in russia. This is by 32.3% fewer than in the same month in 2024. Also last month, four buses were sold in this market (84 – a year earlier). The drop is 95.2 %.